Facebook-user Nona Sharabidze, whose pieces of disinformation have been verified by FactCheck multiple times in the past (1,2,3,4,5,6), is sharing another item of false information. According to her claim, the published photograph was taken in Lviv, Ukraine where schoolchildren are ostensibly celebrating Hitler’s birthday.
In fact, the published photograph has nothing to do with Ukraine and was taken on 12 April 2016 at the event commemorating World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day. This was reported on 12 April 2016 in an article by the Russian online media Вести.Ru.
In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man who flew to space with the Vostok-1 spacecraft. This photograph is dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the first piloted flight to space. In order to pay tribute to this day, flash-mob participants created the number 55.
Therefore, the claim that the disseminated photograph was taken in Lviv and depicts the celebration of Hitler’s birthday is FALSE. It was taken on 12 April 2016 in Russia and shows an event commemorating World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day.
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